The Cambridge Approach to Speaking Assessment

Introduction Direct tests of speaking (and writing) have always beenstandard practice in Cambridge examinations for assessingboth first (L1) and second (L2) language proficiency andCambridge ESOL has a long experience of ‘direct’ speakingassessment.Although some writers have claimed that perfor-mance tests date back only to the middle of the 20th century(McNamara 1996, Lowe 1988), it is worth noting that thevery first UCLES English language proficiency examina-